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Last Saturday, on March 24th, a naming ceremony for Olympic Shipping’s new Platform Supply Vessel took place in Ålesund. The naming of the vessel, now called Olympic Energy was performed by Godmother Marianne Synnes.

After the ceremony, the ship was open to the public and about 1500 people used the chance to study the ship up close.

Olympic Shipping AS, STX OSV and the Training Office of Maritime Studies were represented at the deck, where those who were interested could get further information about the ship and job opportunities in the business. Olympic Energy is a PSV 06 LNG design, to be delivered from STX OSV, later this month. The vessel is designed as a platform supply vessel for worldwide operations and transport of general cargo for offshore industry.

The vessel is of environmental friendly design, with low resistance hull shape designed for high speed and low fuel consumptions. Its main engines are driven by liquefied natural gas.

Noble Corp inaugurated the Noble Globetrotter I ultra-deepwater drillship at Huisman’s new production hall in Schiedam, the Netherlands, on 1 October. The drillship, which was designed around Huisman’s multipurpose tower (MPT), is on schedule to be delivered later this year. It will then mobilize to the US Gulf of Mexico under a 10-year contract with Shell.

The MPT, which is also featured on Noble’s Bully rigs, is a compact box-type drilling tower replacing the conventional derrick. It uses two revolving carousels, each with two pipe rackers, to allow the racking of 35,000 ft of tubulars to support both a drilling side and a construction side, where tubulars can be prepared. This system of hoisting/handling leaves the drill floor open, providing better visibility for the driller and better movement for the crews, according to Noble and Huisman.

Further, the engine room is placed forward, underneath the accommodations, freeing up space in the aft. Riser is stored below deck, and it’s a flat deck essentially from the accommodations to the stern of the ship.

“It’s a much cleaner layout. Walking across the drill floor, there’s nothing overhead. You can reach straight into the center of the rotary with a crane, which is spectacular from a drilling operational perspective,” said David Williams, Noble chairman, president and CEO.“We think it provides a lot of features that will improve safety and operational efficiency.”

The MPT also allows the Globetrotter I to be a smaller-sized vessel (620-ft length) than many other ultra-deepwater drillships, although it can still drill in up to 10,000 ft of water and wells up to 40,000 ft deep. “We’re not giving up any operational capability over much larger vessels,” Mr Williams said, adding that the installation of a heave-compensated crane means there’s a third load path – besides the construction and drilling sides of the MPT – for handling trees or umbilicals.

The Globetrotter I had its hull built by Korea-based STX Offshore & Shipbuilding at its new yard in Dalian, China, then sailed under its own power to Huisman’s quay in the Netherlands, arriving on 19 July this year. Huisman, which was responsible for the design and construction of the drilling equipment as well as the vessel concept design, installed the MPT on the rig on 6 August.

The multipurpose tower on the Noble Globetrotter I uses two revolving carousels to allow 35,000 ft of tubulars to be racked. There is a construction side and a separate drilling side for improved efficiency.

“For us this is a new market. It took us 10 years to find the right combination of people who were willing to take a step-change in technology,” said Joop Roodenburg, Huisman CEO. “We know it’s very difficult to do new things. That’s why it took a long time to get everybody aligned.”

The top section of the MPT can be lifted off with a crane so the vessel can sail through the Panama Canal, Suez Canal and the Bosphorus, Mr Roodenburg explained.

Besides the MPT, the drillship features DP3 stationkeeping capabilities, active heave-compensated dual drum drawworks, 2.4 million lbs of hookload and 2 million lbs of variable deck load. A low elevated drill floor – 5 meters above the main deck – draws the centers of gravity down and reduces sideways motions on the drill floor.

The rig will be equipped with a 18 ¾-in. 15,000-psi six-ram Shaffer NXT BOP system, although Mr Williams and Mr Roodenburg emphasize that the rig has enough deck space to accommodate a backup BOP stack. The decision to build in that redundancy would lie with Shell, however.

“We will continue to explore with Shell what their BOP requirements are going forward. The only rig so far that we have agreed to put second BOPs on are the first of the Hyundai ships,” Mr Williams said, referring to the four ultra-deepwater drillships that Noble has ordered with Hyundai Heavy Industries​ this year. The first of these four drillships is expected to be delivered in 2013 and has a Letter of Intent in place with Shell for a five and a half-year drilling contract.

After its hull was built in Dalian, China, the rig sailed to the Netherlands for installation and commissioning of the topside equipment earlier this year.

A second Globetrotter-class rig is also under construction with STX at its Dalian yard. As with Globetrotter I, the Globetrotter II will then be mobilized to Huisman in the Netherlands for installation and commissioning of the topside equipment. Globetrotter II also has a 10-year contract in place with Shell, and delivery is slated for 2013.

CAMAC Energy Inc. has finished completion operations on the Oyo-8 well, located offshore Nigeria, and is now ready to start oil production. Oyo-8 is hooked up to the Bumi Armada-owned FPSO Armada Perdana. However, CAMAC has been informed by Bumi that the FPSO is not ready to receive oil production from the well due to […]

UK-based offshore drilling contractor Ensco has from oil company BP received a notice of early termination for ENSCO DS-4, a drilling rig operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The estimated effective date of the contract termination is July 2015 based on the projected completion of the customer’s current well program. Under the terms of […]

Chevron Corporation has confirmed today that George L. Kirkland, vice chairman and executive vice president, Upstream, will retire from the company, effective June 15. He will be succeeded by James W. (Jay) Johnson, as executive vice president, Upstream, effective June 16. “George’s business acumen and deep operational knowledge of our industry have helped c […]

Italian oil and gas company Eni, following its participation in the competitive International Bid Round launched by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, signed two Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for offshore blocks MD-02 and MD-04. The contracts were signed in Nay Pyi Taw, in the presence of the country’s Energy Minister. The Joint Venture […]

Azonto Petroleum has said that its board is going through a review of “a range of strategic options for the Company to preserve shareholder value and reduce operating costs.” In a statement issued today, the oil & gas company focused on West Africa, said that it is contemplating a sale of its assets and/or a sale […]

Maersk Oil has informed that production has started from the new unmanned platform Tyra Southeast-B, located in the Danish North Sea. According to Maersk, the platform is expected to add reserves of 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) over the next 30 years to Danish production. “The Tyra Southeast extension is a great example […]

MacGregor has appointed Høye G. Høyesen (49) as Vice President, Offshore Mooring and Loading Division starting as of April 1, 2015. MacGregor reorganised into seven operative divisions in the beginning of 2015 to improve customer focus. Offshore Mooring and Loading Division drives the development of Systems and Equipment for Offshore Floating Units. Høyesen […]

Wood Group has been awarded a five year, multi-million contract by Total, which includes the option for two, one year extensions. Under the contract Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) will deliver engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services to four offshore assets and two onshore facilities in the UK continental shelf (UKCS). The contract, effectiv […]

VAALCO Energy, Inc. has announced that the post-salt Kindele-1 well, its first exploration well on Block 5 offshore Angola, was drilled to a total vertical depth of approximately 1,829 meters. VAALCO started drilling Kindele-1 well on March 2, 2015 with Celtic Sea semi-submersible drilling rig. According to the company, the objective reservoir, the Mucanzo […]

MacArtney Group will launch the new NEXUS MK VII multiplexer at the Ocean Business exhibition. Also MacArtney will display other developments, such as the LUXUS wide angle LED, and stand visitors... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

After reorganization into seven operative divisions in the beginning of 2015, MacGregor has appointed Høye G. Høyesen (49) as Vice President, Offshore Mooring and Loading Division starting 1st of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

On behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) in France and UK MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, OCCAR has awarded the Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) contract to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

BW Offshore, a provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry, has received a notice of termination for the FPSO BW Athena contract from Ithaca Energy. Namely, BW Offshore and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Cameron announced that Justin Rounce has assumed the newly created position of Vice President, Marketing and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective March 23, 2015. In his new role Rounce is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Subsea 7 has declared their option to extend the contract for the construction vessel (CSV) “Normand Seven” with 1 year from September 2015. This is the first of a total of five yearly... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Mariners are advised that over the Easter weekend (4th-5th April 2015) the vessel Stril Explorer is due to arrive at the Gwynt y Môr windfarm to remove the 3 FLIDAR moorings on the seabed. The 76.4... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Baker Consultants Marine Limited has been appointed by GeoSea to provide underwater noise and marine mammal monitoring and mitigation during the construction phase of the Gode Wind 1 and 2 offshore... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The ship Chioggia and the Operational Divers Group (GOS) from the Comsubin performed the mine clearing operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The GOS, with a sophisticated equipment on board, plumbed... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Lancashire based EDS is marking the completion of a £10 million contract for cable termination work at the world’s second largest operating offshore wind farm, with an exemplary health and safety... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

Most people who get new jobs aren't even looking new jobs. That's according a new research paper by Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Bart Hobijn, Patryk Perkowski, and Ludo Visschers, published by the San Francisco Fed. The results of their study show that "more than three-quarters of workers who switched employers did not report active job search in t […]

Facebook dropped $19 billion on WhatsApp, Snapchat is valued at $15 billion, and even the anonymous messaging app Yik Yak, despite being a little over a year old, is already valued between $300 million and $400 million. Messaging apps are big business, and here’s why. Based on new data from mobile analytics firm Flurry charted for us by BI Intelligence, mess […]

If you didn't have enough reasons to see the next "Avengers" movie, here's one more: the second trailer for "Star Wars: Episode VII" will play in front of the anticipated sequel. Both /film and Collider are reporting the second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be attached to the "Avengers: Age of Ul […]

Come join our team! We're looking for an Assistant Managing Editor to help build and manage our fast-growing newsroom. This person should have some experience recruiting, and has preferably worked in journalism as a reporter or editor and is looking for a new and expanded role. The ideal candidate is: -Obsessed with staying organized and loves juggling […]

The contract between "Big Five" book publisher HarperCollins and Amazon is about to expire and HarperCollins is refusing to sign an agreement with the new terms that Amazon is asking, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Business Insider. The contract presented to HarperCollins was the same contract recently signed by Simon & Schuste […]

The peril of not being ready to appear in major stores is a problem KIND knows all about. Around 2007, one Wal-Mart buyer gave us a chance. She was a KIND consumer herself and believed in our brand. She wanted us to succeed. Wal-Mart is a prize account for consumer brands, but it’s a challenging customer for a fledgling start-up to have, because it has world […]

Ever stared up at the sky on a clear night and felt suddenly small beneath the stars? Hiked up a mountain and marveled at the immensity of the vast beauty below? That inexplicable sense of wonder, it turns out, is actually good for you. A handful of recent studies have found that when people experience a sense of awe, they're generally more likely to fe […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) - Tottenham winger Andros Townsend came off the bench to steal the limelight from club-mate Harry Kane with a late leveller in a 1-1 draw against Italy in Turin on Tuesday.England manager Roy Hodgson was forced to hand Spurs sensation Kane his full debut alongside Wayne Rooney due to injuries to both Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck.But […]

Jameis Winston, the presumed No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, held his Pro Day in front of NFL scouts on Tuesday. The initial reaction from many was that it could have gone better. Todd McShay of ESPN said he was "underwhelmed" by Winston's performance, which included 102 passes. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports called it an "OK per […]

It would appear de-dollarization among America's "allies" is accelerating... As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 46 countries had applied to be founding members of #AIIB. Founding membership will be finalized on April 15 — People's Daily,China (@PDChina) March 31, 2015 Most of the 46 nations are here... And while Washington has proclaimed […]

Shortly after the US equity mnarkets closed, headlines crossed from Switzerland seemingly confirming "no deal" with Iran...P5+1 MINISTERS PLAN TO LEAVE LAUSANNE IN MORNING but that was quickly watered down with a warning that Iran has until dawn to agree to the deal. This sent WTI up modestly and then API Crude inventories, which were expected to r […]

If you love Trannies, here's a message for you this quarter... First let's get this out of the way... What an utter farce today was with markets breaking everywhere to stick save VIX ETFs rampant manipulation of the indices... After open, @NASDAQ stopped quoting in A-Z for between 6-8 minutes. Here is in $AAPL: between 09:31-09:37 ET pic.twitter.co […]

1987 Or 2015? "They are not real buyers and sellers... these are computers that drive the markets down extremely fast..." "A crash is coming..." "A correction will prompt rate cuts which will ensure The Bull Market is not over..." * * * It's never different this time... The Friday night before Black Monday 1987... […]

Two months ago, when looking at the most recent physical gold withdrawal numbers reported by the Fed, we observed something peculiar: between the publicly reported surprise redemption by the Netherlands (122 tons) and the just as surprise redemption by the Bundesbank (85 tons), at least 207 tons of gold should have vacated the NY Fed's gold vault. Inste […]

Stranger things have happened... Remember the stop-on-a-dime 666 lows of the S&P... Well it's been 7.5 years again... and we have extended an almost-perfect Fibonnaci 61.8% off the last high-to-low swing... Charts: Bloomberg h/t Brad Wishak

With Decisive Storm airstrikes showing no signs of abating, and with some reports suggesting that as many as 40 people were killed when bombs struck a refugee camp near Haradh, many suspect the violence in Yemen is set to escalate meaningfully in the days and weeks ahead with Saudi Arabia preparing to launch a ground invasion in the expanding effort to debil […]

Days after Zero Hedge broke the news that CNBC had just suffered its worst ever ratings year in 2014... ... we weren't at all surprised to read in the WSJ that "CNBC will no longer rely on TV ratings specialist Nielsen to measure its daytime audience, beginning later this year. Instead, it has retained marketing and research firm Cogent Reports f […]

......Submitted and posted with permission by Gary Christenson - The Deviant Investor (Independently Written) Which silver? Paper silver or real silver? Silver prices are largely set on the COMEX futures – paper silver. A company can post the margin and sell short thousands of contracts with no actual metal available thereby creating artificial supply. […]

It is important to keep track of the war on terror and its damages. A big war creates immense antipathy among those subject to its destruction ... Trade suffers; blowback occurs. And for the US, such a war can be economically draining far beyond what is now being reported. This is not really taken into account in the economic analyses purveyed across the air […]

A big mainstream media meme is that when economic conditions worsen, people respond by seeking out Hitler-esque leaders who will express the frustration of the "people" via genocide, incipient warfare and the creation of a police state. Regardless of whether this has been true in the past, we have long predicted that the Internet would change the w […]

Discrimination has become a "dirty word." It has come to carry the "politically incorrect" connotation of prejudice, hatefulness, racism, and cruel intolerance towards others in society. There is only one problem: Which one of us does not discriminate? Indeed, everything we do reflects discriminating choices and decisions. The issue of di […]

Predictably, the death of Lee Kuan Yew has generated many positive comments in the mainstream media about his "leadership" of Singapore. The main thrust of the comments has to do with his ability to run an authoritarian regime that produced a kind of capitalist prosperity. This is an all-too-familiar meme, one often voiced by Western leaders. The i […]

Leaders in high places around the world are making it clear that the drug war is in a sense "over" – and all that is left to do is wind it down. Of course, if you ask the millions who have suffered from the drug war and their families, the "war" is an all-too-literal presence. For them, there is no winding down, or not yet. But Kofi Anan […]